GRAND RAPIDS, MI – The city was 50 days late taking routine drinking water samples and also put customers at risk of increased lead and copper content, according to an annual water quality report.

Both Grand Rapids and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality say the mistakes did not make the water unsafe to drink, although the city was fined $1,000. Here's the report.

“This is just a good example of the way the process is supposed to work,” said Amy LaChance, Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo district supervisor for DEQ's Office of Drinking Water and Municipal Assistance.

“They take a lot of samples. It’s prescribed that they take samples in a certain time period. We’ve got a procedure in place for holding them to that.”

The Grand Rapids water system, which serves more than 300,000 people in Kent and Ottawa counties, had too little phosphate during the last half of 2013. Phosphate is a “chemical that’s added to the drinking water in order to inhibit the leaching of lead and copper from older pipes,” LaChance said.

But in this case the reduced phosphate did not result in increased measurements of lead and copper in the water, she said.

“We take all violations seriously, but in this case we would agree with the city that there’s no cause for concern with the water quality or public health,” LaChance said. “We have confidence in the drinking water.”

Grand Rapids also failed to take some required water samples by a Sept. 30 deadline. The amounts of certain chemicals measured every one to three years didn’t take place until Nov. 19.

When they were taken in November, the samples showed no signs of concern about the water quality.

Grand Rapids will start using more automated reminders of sampling deadlines, said Joellen Thompson, manager of the city's water system.

“We get a sample schedule from the DEQ,” she said. “When we get that we take those requirements and divide them up amongst the chemists and this particular sampling was assigned to one of the chemists and he just failed to collect it on time.

“We’re going to put some more measures in place to be even more vigilant.”

Thompson said the city thinks the low phosphate readings came from errors in the sampling because “during the whole time our feed rates were correct so we were adding the right amount” into the water.

The Grand Rapids water system pumps water from Lake Michigan and delivers it to customers in Grand Rapids, East Grand Rapids, Kentwood, Walker and Ada, Cascade, Grand Rapids and Tallmadge townships.